Google CEO speechless before annual event

Google CEO Larry Page remains silent about coming Google attractions, not because he refuses to speak but because he can't.

During the company's annual shareholders meeting Thursday, Executive Chariman Eric Schmidt announced that Page has lost his voice and will be unable to do any public speaking for at least a month. That means Page won't speak at next week's annual Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco or during the company's quarterly earnings conference call next month.

"That said, Larry will, of course, continue to run the company," said Schmidt, who is stepping into Page's shoes as the voice of Google for the time being.

Google has not released information on Page's medical condition, described the cause of his loss of voice, or said when he will return to public speaking events.

The 39-year-old CEO will communicate via email and other forms of written messaging during his recovery. Schmidt quoted co-founder Sergey Brin who joked that this could "make Larry a better CEO because he will have to choose his words carefully."

At Thursday's meeting, shareholders approved an April proposal that allows Page, Schmidt, and Brin to issue new shares without losing any of their own voting power, Bloomberg reported. However, that change won't happen until a class action lawsuit by shareholders is resolved.